Page 8

SEVEN

ON A brEAK

D oes Rolls know that I’m avoiding him?

The Playground is fucking huge. I could easily stay to one side of the club and conveniently stay away from him—except for when I need to stop by the bar to pick up drinks.

I purposely refuse to look in the corner where I know Rolls’ usual table is. If I don’t see him, I can try to ignore the pit in my stomach. A mixture of undeniable attraction and embarrassment that I honestly thought he might want me has me skittish, but also determined. As far as I’m concerned, he has his night. I got paid. That’s all there is to it.

And I believe that until halfway through my shift when, all of a sudden, he’s there .

Shit. Shit . He’s standing right in front of me, baby blues narrowed down in an expression that has hints of the charm from last night—and a little bit of outright frustration.

“How much longer did you expect me to sit in my booth alone, Nic?”

I lick my lips, nervous—and, damn it, attracted. What is it about me that, the moment a guy shows a hint of danger, I’m already creaming my fucking panties?

Nic … just the way he growled the shortened version of my name like that has me fantasizing about dropping to my knees in front of this man. And, hell, I knew I was easy, but my undeniable arousal is such a shame when he isn’t interested.

But I know that look… that’s not the look of a man who isn’t interested.

What is going on here?

“I’m sorry, Rolls?—”

“Royce.”

“Royce. Sorry. But Kelly’s your server. If you need another drink?—”

“Believe me baby, I’m not drinking tonight. I want to be stone cold sober for this discussion.” His lips quirk up in a daring grin. “You hiding from me?”

Yes. “What? No. I have tables?—”

Royce’s gaze darts around. When he sees Jessie—easy due to the pound of fire-engine red hair she has piled on top of her hair—he flags her down.

“You need me, boss?”

Boss , I remind myself. This man is my boss.

“Cover for Nicolette. She’s going on a break?”

“I am?” I ask, confused.

He grits his teeth. “You are.”

Oh. I guess I am.

Jessie looks between me and Royce, a small smile tugging on her bright red lips. “Okay. Sure thing. Just let me know when your break’s over, okay, Nic?”

Royce takes my hand in his. “Don’t worry. She will.”

It’s like the other night all over again. Instead of his hand on my back, guiding me where he wants me to go, he cuts through the crowd, leading me out of the hustle and the bustle of the club. It takes me a second to recognize that he’s leading me out of the customer section, near the back, but when he stops in front of a closed door, my forehead wrinkles.

“The supply room?”

It’s more like a closet really. About the size of my bathroom in my mother’s house, it has shelving surrounding the four walls. It’s where we keep napkins, glasses, condiments… everything for the actual restaurant part of the Playground.

“It’s as private as we’re going to get here. I could bring you to my office, but that’s a five minute walk. This is faster.”

Faster? For what? And… “Private? What do we need privacy for?”

“This.”

Before I know what’s going on, Royce has shuffled me into the closet, pulling the door closed behind him. The automatic light comes out, a dim orange that highlights the look of hunger on Royce’s face before he drops one hand to my ass, holding me in place as he lowers his mouth to mine.

It takes me a split second to understand that he’s kissing me. The tongue forcing its way into my mouth as he strokes it, teases it, caresses it is one hell of a clue, as well as the muffle groan he lets out against my lips as he tilts my head back, kissing me deeper.

In that aftermath of that split second, I have to make a decision: do I want to shove my boss away, or do I want to let him kiss me?

I think we all know the answer to that.

Going up on my tiptoes in case this is the only chance I ever get to kiss Royce McIntyre, I give back as good as I get, only realized what just happened when we break for air.

If he didn’t have his hand on my ass, I wouldn’t stumbled all the way back against the rack of glasses behind me. That’s how shocked I am.

Lifting my hand to my mouth, I demand, “What was that?”

“A kiss,” Royce answers, panting softly as his eyes twinkle in the dim light. “And I’m going to give you another one.”

Yes .

No.

“ Wait .”

He pauses, lips inches away from mine. “Yes?”

“That kiss… that wasn’t like the one you gave me the other night.”

“Oh, I know. And if I wasn’t sure I’d send you running in the opposite direction, I would’ve.” He lowers his head again.

I stop him with my hand against his chest.

“Yes?” he says, a hint of impatience to his tone. He stopped, because I wanted him to, not because he did.

I didn’t want him to, though. I need him to.

I need to understand .

“I don’t get it. If you wanted to kiss me, why did you…”

I can’t even say it. The rejection I felt when he left me behind at my place still stings more than I want to admit.

“I know, baby. So let me make this perfectly clear. I didn’t just want to kiss you. I wanted to touch you. To make you come, and to fuck you so throughly, you forgot that you promised yourself to another man.”

Another man?

Kieran— no. Miles. Not Kieran. Miles Haines.

“But that,” he says, oblivious to my minor freak-out, “is why I didn’t. When I fuck you, Nic, it won’t be because you’re getting ten grand out of it. That’s not my style. It’ll be because you want me as much as I want you. I thought you did… I thought we had had something. But tonight… you ignored me.”

“I didn’t mean to?—”

“You’re such an adorable liar. Yes, you did. I don’t think you expected me to lose my fucking mind like this, but do you know how hard it was for me to let you go the other night?”

“I… no?”

“Hard,” he says firmly. “And then to watch you walk around in those shorts… you don’t know what you do to me, Nic.”

I honestly had no idea.

“Royce—”

“Devil told me to go for it. If I thought you were down, make a move. What could it hurt?” He laughs ruefully. “Well, tell that to my aching cock. Because I’m fucking fiending for you, and the most I can hope for is a stolen kiss in a supply closed like I’m back in school.”

Bowing his head, forehead pressed against mine, he whispers, “What were you like in school? The goody goody, huh? I bet you never let a guy touch you in a closet like this before.”

He has no idea…

I wasn’t getting fingered in a closet. I was having my twenty-one-year-old boyfriend sneaking into my bed to fuck me.

The same man that refused to ever leave—until I did.

No. No more thinking about Kieran. It’s crazy and it’s reckless, but I’m in this supply closet with Royce McIntyre—and though I’ll probably regret this later, I have the taste of his mouth on mine, and the sudden desire to pretend I’m that goody goody with a kinky side he obsessively hopes I am.

“I don’t know,” I tell him. “Why don’t you touch me now and I’ll see if it rings any bells?”

Royce sucks in a breath.

I nod encouragingly at him. From his expression, it’s clear he never expected me to agree so easily, but I don’t care. He’s the one who wants to fool around in a supply closet?

Sure. Why not?

Taking his hand, I move it in front of my lycra shorts; in the Playground, the heat’s on blast so that we can all forget that it’s fucking freezing outside. It doesn’t take much effort at all to slip his fingers an inch past the material.

He doesn’t have to do any more than that. I called his bluff. He was annoyed I ignored him after dinner with him, and while I desperately want to believe that the only reason he didn’t make a move the other night was because of the money and the bet, I’m not sure I do.

Your move, Royce.

And, oh, does he move .

It happens in a flash. One second, I’m sure he’s going to remind us both that he’s my boss and that we’ve gone far enough—and then he has his fingers sliding through my soaking wet slit, finding my entrance, filling me up with his thick middle finger.

“Ah, that’s my girl. I just knew you’d be able to take me so easily.”

He’s not even talking about his dick. He’s talking about his finger, but from this angle? It could be the same goddamn thing.

“Okay. To be honest, I didn’t think you were actually attracted to me like that,” I gasp, going up on my tiptoes so that Royce can finger me deeper.

Maybe he’s not. Maybe I’m just an obvious target, easy prey, and he decided to have a little fun tonight.

Honestly? I don’t care so long as he keeps doing what he’s doing.

Royce takes my bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling it gently while never slowing in his pace. His middle finger goes in and out leisurely, his thumb circling my clit, sending jolts of pleasure through me.

“Then you weren’t paying attention, baby. I stayed away. I was trying to behave. Fuck that. If you think I didn’t want a night with you, you’re wrong.”

“But we already had one?—”

“We did. And I decided one will never be enough. So if you want to doubt just how attracted I am to you, put your hand on my cock. Touch me the same way I’m touching you. Because, fuck me, Nic… you feel this?” He flicks my engorged cut with his thumb. “You want me. I want you. Attraction is definitely not our problem.”

No. It’s not.

But we have plenty, don’t we?

Know what? I don’t care. It’s been so long since someone’s touched me like this, and that’s assuming someone has. Instead of demanded me pleasure him, he followed my lead, taking over while still focusing entirely on me.

Royce isn’t touching me like I’m his possession. Like I’m his property . This is the caress of a man who is sure of his welcome, but still wants the woman in his arms to enjoy his embrace.

The man I’ve known of—that I’ve seen lurking in the shadows, eyes sliding away from me on the occasion that ours meet—has always seemed so aloof, yet charming in his way. Like he’s completely away of his effect on the world around him, and while he doesn’t use it to his advantage, he’s not going to say sorry for it, either.

Just like he’s not going to apologize for the quick work he makes of my body.

“Come for me,” he whispers, sucking my earlobe into his mouth. “Show me what I can expect when you give this pretty pussy to me.”

I don’t know what does it. The heat of his mouth, his dirty words, or the way he’s fingerfucking me to completion, but I dig my nails into his arms as I gasp out my release.

“Yes,” he hisses. He has two fingers stretching me out, giving my pass something to clench around as my climax hits. “I fucking knew it. From the moment I saw you… you’d be such a good girl for me.”

Good girl .

I don’t know how he knows it, but I’ve always had a thing for praise kink. I guess it was inevitable. When I would piss Kieran off and he took his temper out on me, he would punctuate any slaps, any bites, and rough thrusts by telling me I deserved it for being such a bag girl.

To keep him happy—when I still cared about that asshole being happy—I would do anything to be his good girl. The damage is down now, and all it takes is a man telling me to shut up and take his cock like a good girl and I’m ready to do just that.

Not gonna lie, I’m definitely ready now .

My hand drops to the front of his slacks like he invited me to before. Running my fingers over the bulge I find there, I know that Royce is, too. Half out of my head with lust, the idea of yanking down my shorts, bending over, and letting him fuck me in the storage room has a certain appeal.

And I might have suggested it… if it wasn’t for the sudden buzz vibrating in the small space, killing the mood and bringing me back to reality.

I stiffen in his arms, though Royce doesn’t react as quickly as I do to the reminder that there’s a world that exists outside of this closet. Instead, his eyes on mine, he slowly withdraws his fingers from my pussy, slipping the slick digits between his lips and he licks them clean with relish as he uses his other hand to pull his phone out.

It’s all over in an instant. The second he sees the number on his screen, his fingers come free from his lips with a pop -ping sound as he curses under his breath.

“Fuck. I have to take this.” Turning away from me, running those same wet fingers through his slicked-back blond hair, he jabs his phone with his other thumb, then lifts it to his ear. “Hello? Ava? What’s wrong?”

Ava .

Who the fuck is Ava?

I don’t know. And since Royce simply says, “Of course. You need me. I’ll be right there,” I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know, either.

Oof.

He’s not yours, Nic, a little voice in the back of my head says. I kinda sounds like Britney. He can never be and you know it.

We had our night. I got a kiss. So he fingerfucked me. That was probably a huge mistake, especially when I have Britney’s comments about Royce’s other women running through my brain.

Anything after that… he’s my boss. He asked me if I was single during dinner the other night, and I was so relieved to tell him I was— but I realize now that I forgot to turn the question around on him.

Looks like I might’ve just gotten my answer.

Feeling silly and super exposed, I hurriedly adjust my panties and my shorts as Royce wraps up his phone call.

“Sorry about that,” he says, pocketing his phone. “But when duty calls?—”

“It’s okay,” I tell him, cutting him off. It’s probably for the best if I don’t. “Speaking of duty, I should be getting back to work.”

Royce frowns. “Is everything okay? I didn’t… we’re good, right?”

If he’s asking whether I was an enthusiastic participant in being fingerbanged in the supply closet? “Yeah. We’re good.”

Relief flashes across his face. “Just checking. Look. This shouldn’t take long. What time is your shift over?”

I shouldn’t answer.

I shouldn’t?—

“Ten.”

Reaching out, running his thumb along my upper arm, he says, “I’ll try to make it back.”

I guess I wasn’t the only one hoping for a quickie tonight. But there’s a difference. Now that I know he has another woman he’s running home to, it doesn’t matter how attracted we are to each other.

This can’t happen again—and not just because Kieran would kill me if he ever found out.

“Sounds good,” I lie.